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“A Rainbow of Women” Diversity and Unity at the 1977 U.S

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“A Rainbow of Women” Diversity and Unity at the 1977 U.S 88 “A Rainbow of Women” Diversity and Unity at the 1977 U.S. International Women’s Year Conference Doreen J. Mattingly and Jessica L. Nare The 1977 National Women’s Conference in Observance of International Women’s Year (IWY) was in many ways the zenith of U.S. second-wave feminism, producing a Plan of Action that remains a comprehensive statement of the movement’s ideals. It also played an important role in the growth and visibility of anti-feminist activism. The conference ac- complished meaningful inclusion of women of color and lesbians, both as participants and as authors of the Plan. Notably, this diverse group of over 2,000 delegates agreed on twenty-six of twenty-seven proposed planks, presenting the U.S. public with an image of feminist unity. In this article the authors examine the factors that contributed to both the diversity of the conference and its apparent unity. They argue that two factors were particularly important. First, the threat of anti-feminists motivated lesbian participation and contributed to strategies that minimized dissent among supporters of women’s rights. Second, many of the Washington feminists in leadership positions were committed to inclusion and worked to achieve a diverse conference. The article pro- vides important historical detail about the politics of inclusion within second-wave feminism in the late 1970s. Introduction he 1977 National Women’s Conference in Observance of International Women’s Year (IWY) and the state conferences leading up to it have beenT the only federally-funded women’s conferences in U.S. history. At preparatory conferences in every U.S. state and territory, participants elected delegates and voted on a range of proposals aimed at improving women’s lives. More than 100,000 women and men participated in state and territo- rial conferences, and over 2,000 delegates and 18,000 spectators attended the National Conference held in Houston, Texas, from November 18 to 21, 1977. IWY was the most diverse federal conference that had ever been held; over a third of delegates (35.5 percent) were racial or ethnic minorities and sixty delegates openly identified as lesbian.1 The National IWY Conference and the Plan of Action it produced were remarkable expressions of feminist unity, especially in light of the contentious nature of the women’s movement in the 1970s. Throughout © 2014 Journal of Women’s History, Vol. 26 No. 2, 88–112. 2014 Doreen J. Mattingly and Jessica L. Nare 89 the decade, battles over ideology, tactics, and identity divided feminists. Counter-culture radicals dismissed women’s advocates working in formal politics, believing them to be co-opted; many moderates feared that feminist involvement with abortion and lesbian rights would undermine the success of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); and divisions on the basis of sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and income challenged most organizations and campaigns. Actual divisions were exacerbated by a national press more interested in highlighting battles within the movement than in covering the real substance of feminist concerns. In contrast, The Spirit of Houston, IWY’s official report, paints a utopian picture of inclusion at the National Conference: “It was the first time women of so many different income groups, ages, lifestyles and ethnic, racial and religious groups; from so many cities, towns, suburbs, rural areas, farms and islands had been able to gather in one place…This ‘rainbow of women’ came to Houston with a belief in our democratic system and a hope that justice and equality for women will become engrained in that system.”2 Thus, the National Conference in Observance of International Women’s Year achieved a seemingly impossible task: a large and diverse group of delegates agreed upon a controversial slate of feminist proposals. Although often cited as a major victory of second-wave feminism, surprisingly little scholarship about the IWY Conference exists. 3 In a brief section in Tidal Wave, the historian Sara Evans points out that it was the most diverse gathering of the women’s movement and created a massive organizing opportunity for feminists and anti-feminists alike.4 No doubt the lack of scholarly interest is, at least in part, due to the limited influence of the conference; the Carter administration failed to create an enduring government body to oversee the implementation of the Plan of Action, and the Reagan administration was even less amenable to feminist goals. Most existing scholarship focuses on the pivotal role of the Conference in the emergent “pro-family” anti-feminist movement.5 An estimated twenty percent of delegates to the National Conference opposed the Plan of Ac- tion, and a large “Pro-Family Rally” was held in Houston at the same time, ensuring that the national press focused on the conflict. In addition, the tendency of feminist texts to paint second-wave liberal feminism with a broad brush may have led some to overlook the internal workings of the IWY process as an important site of investigation. In this article, we examine both the National IWY Conference in Houston and the California state preparatory conference to examine the factors that contributed to both inclusion of lesbians and women of color, as well as feminist agreement on the controversial platform. The focus on California is one of convenience as well as content; the California confer- ence was one of the largest, and given our location its records were easiest 90 Journal of Women’s History Summer for us to access. We found that a number of factors contributed to diversity among participants. The racially diverse and largely feminist National Commission created a framework that encouraged inclusion, and some Commissioners worked with lesbian and women-of-color organizations to ensure that their members and perspectives were included. In addition, the selection of a diverse group of delegates was actually made easier by the involvement of “pro-family” organizations and activists. Many femi- nists, especially lesbians and their allies, were motivated to participate by the fear that conservatives would dominate the conference. The very real threat posed by anti-feminists also contributed to unified feminist support for the Plan. Concerned that the National Conference would be derailed or replaced with a conservative “pro-family” agenda, a Pro Plan Caucus was created with the goal of passing the Plan of Action in its entirety. The only significant changes allowed to the Plan, interestingly, increased inclusivity; minority women, low-income women, older women, and disabled women successfully submitted substitute planks that referred to their groups. Background to the International Women’s Year Conference To promote equality between women and men and increase women’s contribution to development, the United Nations proclaimed 1975 to be International Women’s Year. In 1974, President Nixon called upon Con- gress to observe the global event and take steps toward the advancement of women. The following year, on January 9, 1975, President Ford created the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year. Ford appointed thirty-five members to the Commission and selected Republican Jill Ruckelshaus to be the presiding officer. The Commission’s Deputy Coordinator was Catherine East, perhaps the most powerful, if low-profile, feminist in Washington at the time. The Commission spent most of the first six months preparing for the United Nations First World Conference on Women held in Mexico City in the summer of 1975.6 Fol- lowing the Mexico City Conference, the Ford-appointed IWY Commission published To Form a More Perfect Union, a nearly 400-page document that recommended 115 government policies to improve women’s lives.7 The Commission’s top priority was the ERA; it even established ERAmerica, an umbrella organization of 120 pro-ERA groups that advised and supported state ratification efforts.8 The government-appointed Commission was not the only feminist group interested in using the UN International Women’s Year to draft a national feminist agenda. Women’s Action Alliance (WAA), a coalition of women’s organizations, began crafting a feminist action plan in hopes of promoting a meaningful U.S. response to the UN Conference and ensuring a 2014 Doreen J. Mattingly and Jessica L. Nare 91 role for non-governmental organizations in shaping that response.9 Through the leadership of the officers of dozen prominent women’s organizations, and the input of seventy more, the National Women’s Agenda was created. Despite several requests, the Ford-appointed Commission refused to meet with WAA to discuss their proposed action plan.10 While the Commission was working on its report, Congress passed a bill calling for a national women’s conference. Sponsored by Congress- woman Bella Abzug (D, NY) and supported by female members of the House of Representatives from both parties (there were no female members in the Senate at this time), Public Law 94-167 expanded the Commission’s responsibility to include planning and executing state and national confer- ences. After Jimmy Carter assumed office in January of 1977, he asked his Presidential Assistant for Public Liaison, Margaret “Midge” Costanza, to recommend members for a reconstituted IWY Commission.11 A little-known City Councilwoman from Rochester, New York, Costanza proved to be an outspoken feminist and human rights activist. She surprised the country and several key Carter staffers when she took controversial actions in sup- port of gay rights and federally-funded abortions.12 For Costanza and her feminist allies, the reconstitution of the National Commission created a political opportunity to include more feminists, Democrats, and women of color. The details of the selection process for the reconstituted Commission show the care taken to appoint leaders from diverse backgrounds. Among Costanza’s papers are dozens of lists of potential Commissioners, all in- dicating race, gender, group membership, political party, and geographic location.13 In March of 1977, Carter accepted Costanza’s recommendations and expanded the Commission to forty-two members, thirteen (thirty-one percent) of whom were women of color.
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